Trump Issues Stern Ultimatum to Iran as U.S. Warships Head to the Region

At the premiere of the documentary Melania in Washington between Thursday and Friday, President Trump delivered a forceful warning to Tehran, revealing that a fleet of U.S. warships is heading to the region. A New York Times report indicates that the president is weighing military options, including strikes on non-military targets and attacks on security commanders, to support Iranian protesters.

Speaking to reporters on the red carpet, Trump outlined his message to Iran following the violent suppression of nationwide demonstrations. “I told them two things,” the president said. “Number one – no nukes. And number two – stop killing protesters. They’re killing them by the thousands.”

Trump claimed that his personal involvement had already prevented executions in Iran: “I stopped 837 hangings two weeks ago, but they’re going to have to do something. Nobody’s ever seen anything like this.” He emphasized the scale of U.S. military power in the region: “We have a lot of very large, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now. It would be great if we didn’t have to use them.”

Behind closed doors at the White House, discussions continue about the potential U.S. response. According to the New York Times, Trump has been briefed on a range of new attack options targeting the Islamic Republic.

Options under consideration include strikes on government institutions in Tehran to undermine the regime’s authority, attacks on commanders responsible for violence against protesters to signal that Iran’s security forces can be challenged, and large-scale operations against the country’s ballistic missile program and uranium enrichment facilities.

U.S. officials involved in planning said Trump aims to create conditions for “regime change.” The goal is to empower the nationwide protest movement, which was violently suppressed earlier this month at the cost of thousands of lives, by weakening the regime’s security apparatus.

According to Israeli officials who spoke with the New York Times, Israel is pressing the United States to join it in striking Iran’s ballistic missile program.

One of Trump’s preferred scenarios is a swift, decisive strike intended to force Iran to agree to stricter nuclear terms, including a complete ban on uranium enrichment and limits on ballistic missiles. The president has repeatedly warned that “time is running out” for Tehran, cautioning that any future U.S. attacks would exceed last June’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, which he called a “spectacular military success.”

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio barred senior Iranian officials and their family members from entering the United States. “Those who profit from the Iranian regime’s brutal oppression are not welcome to benefit from our immigration system,” he said.

The Iranian foreign minister is expected to travel to Turkey on Friday for a series of diplomatic meetings. Despite this, Iran remains wary of overtures from Washington and questions whether U.S. proposals are sincere, according to several regional diplomats.

Their doubt stems partly from events last June, when the Trump administration joined Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities even as diplomatic talks were set to begin.

Earlier Thursday, the European Union officially designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization in response to reports of mass killings of protesters during freedom demonstrations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sharply criticized the EU move, stating: “Europe is now making another serious strategic mistake by designating our national military as a ‘terrorist organization.'”

Russian President Vladimir Putin told UAE leader Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Thursday that Moscow is closely following developments in Iran and wants to discuss the issue during their meeting at the Kremlin. Putin made the remark at the outset of their talks, noting that the UAE recently hosted peace negotiations involving Russia and Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that opportunities for dialogue between the United States and Iran still remained, warning that any military action against Tehran could trigger “chaos” across the region and carry serious risks. Peskov’s comments came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump called on Iran to enter negotiations on its nuclear program or potentially face a U.S. military strike.

Two American sources familiar with the discussions told Israel’s Channel 14 that Trump is exploring ways to reignite public protests against Tehran, aiming to create conditions that could ultimately bring down the regime. It remains unclear whether the EU’s decision was influenced by U.S. pressure.

In recent weeks, President Trump has directed a significant buildup of U.S. military forces in the Middle East. This week, another destroyer and the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group reached the region. The strike group includes the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, its fighter jet squadrons, and three accompanying destroyers. These reinforcements augment the two destroyers and three littoral combat ships already operating in the area under U.S. Central Command.